August 26, 2018

August 26, 2018

I’ve been sick. Very sick. For those who were not in the know, right after my family left and I posted my little trip down memory lane, I got deathly ill. We’ll end this with photos to be a bit of an upper, since I don’t want to be a downer, but it started off with me getting super dehydrated during my travels with my parents. We chugged water and sports drinks, but it weakened me greatly, to the point where it reached a head(or rather, it reached my head) and I got a throat infection when we were leaving Tokyo, which grew as I started to lose my voice, right up until it was time to go back to work.

I missed 4 days of work because of this sickness. It’s a great shame on my record, because the last time I missed work for sickness was 6 years ago. The last time I was laid out for more than a day or two by sickness and we’re going back DECADES. So, this was pretty bad. I learned that while I thought walking and standing was all I needed to work, but as a teacher, I also need my voice. And this bronchial infection cost me that. I sounded like a dead frog for four days. Then it got worse, if you can believe that.

No, really, it got worse. My infection climbed up to my ear and I lost hearing in my right ear. At this point, the writing was on the wall. I needed to see a specialist. I’d been to my local clinic twice and it just wasn’t cutting it, so, for the last week I’ve been seeing a throat and ear specialist. It was a harrowing affair, with the pressure in my head being so crippling I could barely walk, with the blood I had to get taken for tests making me feel too weak to stand, and with the sickness and coughing being so severe I couldn’t sleep.  Don’t let anyone tell you sick days are fun. I focused all my strength on just surviving to the next day and trying to recover. To that end, I cut all cheese, soda, and sweets, along with anything that could irritate my throat, from my diet. It was not fun.

I did manage to go back to work and while my voice isn’t at 100%, it’s good enough. I’ve been able to get back to my regular teaching schedule, so that’s good, but this sickness has been a trial for everyone. I am on the road to recovery. The specialist I saw gave me good medicine and cut into my ear to drain the fluid causing the pressure buildup in my head. I won’t go into more detail than that, but suffice it to say, I survived…somehow.

Now, that’s out of the way, so let’s do some Tokyo photos with the family. Enjoy.

My first big sight in Tokyo was the Ghibli clock right next to my family's hotel. I have video of it moving, but it's too big for this blog.

Had to get the local shrine on camera

Welcome to Kawaguchiko, gate to Mt. Fuji and a pretty magical place all told.

My mom and I standing at the start of the journey of our family to explore Fuji.

Love the architecture

My mom and dad loved this aspect of Japan and so do I. I love the just natural blending of nature and modernity to create a place that is calming to rest and beautiful to pass.

Lake Kawaguchiko, before lunch and the ropeway.

Speaking of the rope way, we climbed up high to see Fuji through the cloudy skies.

Along the way to Fuji, we came to the top of the ropeway and a fun little tribute to a local story of a naughty tanuki and the rabbit who punished him for his misdeeds.

Heart bell, to tie together those who love.

This is probably the best of the pictures of me, with Fuji in the background just through the clouds, if you look carefully.

Welcome to the music box museum, aka, Music Forest.

Mima the opera clown sang opera for us and it was a great performance after out long trek.

So many beautiful and elaborate music boxes that dance and light up when you start them

I loved the aesthetic of this place from start to finish

We must be home before midnight!

I did SEE the Tokyo Skytree, but the line was too much and I was too tired and starting to get sick, so I didn't climb.

Instead I hung out with Totoro

And saw the National Museum and all it's weirdness

Love me some museums.

This marks the end of the trip, which is how I wanted it to end. I shared my gourmand tastes with my family and gave them a hit of real, local Japanese food. I hate chasumen, my dad eating some donburi, and my mom with some special crunchy yakisoba.

My father's only picture because he didn't like the camera, but yeah, he did have a good time, tired though all of us was. I had a great time with my family, I just that I hadn't been sick through the last bits of it.